How She Became
by Annabel Wynters
Summary: Pre/post 10k, The real story of Cinderella and how she became one of the greatest rulers in the 10 Kingdoms.
1. Chapter 1

_Ok this is sort of a mix of 2 movies and a miniseries, The Fog, Brothers Grimm, and the 10th Kingdom. All of which I do not own nor am I affiliated with them. But they're all really good_!

**_Be careful what you wish for._ **

On the shores of Ireland sat a girl with bright red hair you'd think wasn't naturally accomplished and with eyes the color of emeralds. But it wasn't unusual for a red haired girl with green eyes to be sitting on the boulders that lined the shores, but this girl was different; many girls and boys came here in solitude to watch the beauty of a sunrise or to listen to the calming sounds of the water crashing against the rocky shores but she came here because she was afraid. She was afraid that she would never leave this town, that she would never know love, that her life would just be…ordinary. _I could be anything but ordinary_. She thought; _I want to get away. That much I know._

"Isolde! What are you doing! You know your father's been looking for you everywhere!"

"I'm sorry, Mother. I…I just don't want to face him right now."

"Why not? You know he's gone through all this trouble to set up this marriage between you and this young man, the least you could do is cooperate with his wishes."

"But mother! I do not wish to marry him! He's a…story teller. He's not even that interesting, he tells tales of magick and yet him and his brother are suppose to be famous for battling some witch in Germany. Why is he even bothering with me?"

Isolde's mother knelt down to the girl that was barely into her 20's. "Isolde, maybe it's this magick him and his brother write of that has captured his heart."

"Lies, that's they are. There's no way that people of slavery can turn out to be royalty, there's no such thing as true love."

"You are hopeless girl! Come now; let's get you cleaned up before he arrives."

"What's his name again mother?"

"Wilhelm Grimm, his brother is Jacob. Now up to your room! We don't want him mistaking us for the poorhouse now do we?"

"No Mother." Isolde stood up, saying goodbye to the beautiful sunset and made her way up to the near-crumbled shack that was up the hill a bit. She opened the door and heard the hinges creak, she held the door open for her mother and went to the small closet-like space that she called a room.

"Isolde, your best dress and your best manners for the young man."

"Yes, ma'am!" She called from her room, she hesitantly took off the rag of a dress she was wearing, preparing herself for the bitter cold that filled the home, and grabbed the thick sage green dress that lay on her child-size bed. She pulled it over her head as she could hear the sound of faint horse's feet hitting to cobble drive that lead to the house.

"Jake, are you sure this is the best thing for me? I mean, what if she's not at all what the man said?"

"Well the man was drunk in a pub after all and he seemed very pleased to have gotten rid of her."

"Jake, that's not what I meant and you know it. I shouldn't even be doing this; she's probably still a child, how disgusting would that be, could you imagine."

"Calm down Will, I'm sure she's not that bad."

"Easy for you to say."

"Gentlemen, we have arrived." The Carriage came to a stop; Jacob was first to exit the carriage. "Just remember, Beans Will, Magick Beans!"

"Shut you trap Jacob." Wilhelm came out of the carriage and approached the dilapidated shack. Jacob stood behind him silently encouraging him on. He knocked three times on the door. The door swung open with a red haired man standing behind it, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ah! Grimm! Welcome, welcome to my home!"

Wilhelm smiled sheepishly, and straightened his glasses. "Hello Sir, pleasure to meet you."

The man pulled Wilhelm inside the small home and Jacob followed carefully. "Jacob! Good to see you again!"

"Good to see you too sir."

"Now, I'm sure you want to meet my daughter. She's really nothing compared to her mother and me. She's thin as a twig, but you know nothing a few extra meals won't cure."

"I'd be honored to meet the young lady."

"Lady? Ha! Isolde! Get out here and greet your guests!" The man yelled. Wilhelm winced at the bellowing shout. Out from the fare corner of the home came a young woman, her hair pulled into a tight braid. Her face looked downward in fear of her father's wrath.

"This gentlemen, is my daughter Isolde. Isolde, this young man has come here for your hand in marriage." Isolde looked up at the rough looking man with curly brown lock of hair that were short; he had a thin beard and had glasses upon his nose.

"Pleasure to meet you sir." She said barely above a whisper.

"Isolde," Wilhelm whispered, stuck in shock of the beautiful woman that stood before him.

"Yes?"

"Nothing, nothing." He took Isolde's hand and brought it to his mouth; he gently pressed his lips against the back of her hand. Isolde took her hand back and set it to her side. "Is something wrong?" Isolde looked up and her father who was almost as tall as she but was nearly 2 inches taller.

"No sir, nothing at all." Isolde looked behind Wilhelm and saw a blond hair man who was dressed very fancily looking around the small home. Wilhelm looked over his shoulder to see what Isolde was looking at. "Oh, that's my brother…" "Jacob, so I've heard."

"Oh so we're going to be talkative now are we?" Her father looked down on the girl; it was obvious that he had started his drinking earlier than usual. He raised his hand and backhanded the girl.

Wilhelm was shocked at the man's behavior, Isolde's father raised his hand as if to hit Isolde again but Wilhelm grabbed it. "Sir, I don't think that there will be any need of that here. It's alright if she talks as she pleases."

Isolde's father looked Wilhelm over; He just grunted and looked down at Isolde who was picking herself up off the floor. "Get up girl and serve up something to drink!" Isolde got up off the floor and went into the tiny kitchen and poured the three men a glass of cool ale while the three men sat down around a small circular table that was coated with sand and grit. "Father, this is the last of the ale."

"Then go down to the cellar and fetch us another barrel!" Isolde just nodded and set down the tray that carried they're drinks and went out the door. "Stupid girl." Isolde's father grumbled under his breath with taking a sip of his ale. Wilhelm looked into the glass and looked at the black liquid, he suddenly remembered the last time he was drunk in a German pub; he shivered at the thought of getting that drunk again. Jacob had already downed his drink along with Isolde's father. "Uh…Excuse me; I think I'll go…check on the horses!" Wilhelm suddenly got up from the table and went outside. He breathed in the cool sea breeze as it blew in his face.

"Nice out, isn't it?" He jump at the sound of Isolde's voice. But there was something different about it, it was quiet as a mouse, it was strong and powerful. If it hadn't come from Isolde, he might have been afraid of it. "W-why, yes it is. I'm Wilhelm but my brother calls me Will." He offered his hand out to shake Isolde's but she just took a step backward, away from Wilhelm. "You're a storyteller, correct?"

"Yes, how'd you know?"

"The kids in town, they talk about the great Brothers Grimm and they talk about your defeat in Germany with an evil witch. I don't believe in magick so I guess that they're all just…stories."

"That's an excellent conclusion, but the stories are real. See, the evil witch had taken twelve girls from the village and…"

"And she was going to perform a ritual of some sort to become young and beautiful and she would live forever. But you and your brother defeated her and became heroes. I've heard the stories before."

"Oh…very well." Wilhelm looked to the rocky coast, "Care to join me for a walk?"

Isolde looked to the ground, she wanted to but she knew her father was already fuming at the thought on an empty cup sitting before him. "I must get this barrel inside to my father; he doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Of course, would you like some help?"

"I've done it before without your help, I'm sure I can do it again!" Isolde snapped at Wilhelm. She turned her barefoot heel and walked down the steps, when she came out she was carrying two small barrels full of ale. She looked up at the door and notice Wilhelm was no longer there, she looked around some more to try and find him. It wasn't safe to walk around these unfamiliar territories. She went inside to see if he had went in there, but inside sat Jacob and her father laughing.

"Finally!" Isolde's father yelled. "Hurry up and fill up our glasses! Jacob here was telling me all about his tales about how he single-handedly defeat a swamp witch."

"With the help of my brother, of course."

"Yes, father." Isolde rushed as she filled her fathers and Jacobs glasses and just as fast went outside to try and find Wilhelm. "Wilhelm! Wilhelm!" She looked around frantically, not only was it not safe for him to be outside at twilight but it was vastly dangerous for her, a single girl, to outside wondering by herself. "Wilhelm!" She shouted once more.

"Over Here!" She heard him faintly yell, she looked over to where she heard him yell and saw him sitting upon a large coral boulder. Isolde ran over to him and saw that he had a notebook in his lap, along with a small ink well and pen. "Hello again!" He said cheerfully at the approaching girl. "It's so nice out, isn't it?"

"Yes, I'm sorry for snapping earlier. My father doesn't like to be kept waiting and I…I just like doing things on my own." Isolde apologized and sat down next to Wilhelm.

"It's alright, I'm like that sometimes. Jake he likes getting all the attention and I'm just the sidekick."

"What are you writing?" She asked, looking at the closed notebook.

"Oh it's nothing. Wait, what's that?" He asked, pointing toward some fog that was rolling in.

"Just a fog, but…they don't roll in this early." Isolde stood up and looked at the bank; it seemed different than the others. It seemed to be…moving. "I-I think we should go back to the house."

"No, I want to see it. It looks interesting. I've never seen fog do this before." Wilhelm stood up with her as well; he stepped closer to the shore. He felt like he was being drawn to it, so did Isolde. She noticed that Wilhelm was getting dangerously close to the water, his boots were already half covered with water. She grabbed his shoulder to keep him from going any further.

Isolde looked deeper into the fog; she saw what could only be described as lightning inside the cloud. "It's not a fogbank then, what is it?" Wilhelm asked.

"Let's get a closer look!" Isolde climbed up the rocks and coral and ran toward the tip of the shore, where the fog was touching. "Hurry up, Wilhelm! Your going to miss it!"

"I'm coming!"

She felt like a child again, before her father started drinking and gambling they're money away. She ran through the thin grass and course sand barefooted with Wilhelm trailing behind her. She stood right in front of the fog, the lightning that was happening inside remained silent and the clouds moved forward, swallowing her and Wilhelm whole. "Isolde! Where are you?"

"I'm right beside you! I can't see a thing! Can you?"

"No. What's…AH!" A flash of light appeared inside the fog and then Wilhelm was gone.

"Wilhelm? Wilhelm?! Will!" She saw the light rumbling again, it was swirling right in front of her. "What the?" Isolde gasped, seeing the light coming right straight toward her. She closed her eyes and prepared for either excruciating pain or death. She squeezed her eyes shut and even with her eyes shut she could see the light engulfing her.

"Isolde?" She heard Wilhelm's voice ask, there was concern in his voice. She groaned and brought a hand to her head. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing Wilhelm crouched down beside her. "Isolde!" He wrapped his arms around her giving her a hug, glad to see she was alright and alive.

"Wilhelm? Wha-what happened?" She looked around her; they were inside some sort of cave or underground for there were rocks sticking out of the walls and the ceiling.

"I-I'm not sure, we were in the fog and I saw this light in front of me. Next thing I knew I was standing here, I saw another light and there you were; lying on the grown like you were asleep."

"Something's not right." Isolde stood up off the ground; she dusted off her sage green dress; that dress was starting to get on her nerves. She looked around once more; there were lanterns all along the walls. She stepped closer to the walls and noticed the sparkles that were all over the walls. "Wilhelm, look. It's…its silver."

They're voices echoed off of the walls, drops of water fell off of the cavern walls. Wilhelm took Isolde's arm with his free hand while his other held his notebook, ink well and pen, and turned her so she faced him. Isolde jumped at the sudden of Wilhelm's hand. "We need to leave, I don't like it here." He whispered as if somebody might be listening to them.

"Okay." She whispered back. Wilhelm led the way through the winding halls that led everywhere. Isolde heard the faint sound of footsteps coming toward them. "Wilhelm, wait!" She whispered.

"What is it?" Wilhelm asked as he stood next to Isolde.

"Just listen."

"_I'm positive, sir. There was some interesting activity happening in the super-quick silver room." _They heard a faint voice say as the footsteps drew closer. Isolde and Wilhelm stood still as possible, they're hearts pounding against they're chests.

The footsteps abruptly stopped. _"Something's not right." _The footsteps grew dangerously close. Suddenly a man that stood probably 3 and ½ feet tall stood before them. "INTRUDERS!!" The small man yelled.

"No, we're no intruders, we're just lost." Isolde tried reasoning with the short man.

"INTRUDERS!! HELP! SOMEBODY QUICK! HELP! INTRUDERS!!" The man shouted.

Isolde couldn't think of anything else to do, she had to silence the man somehow, so she slapped him. "Shut up!" She yelled at man as he held his cheek.

"You slapped me!"

"Yes I did, only because you're making a scene. Now listen to me, we are not intruders. We…I don't even know how we got here. Can you please help us?"

The man looked her over, "I can not. It is against the rules, and I mustn't break the rules." Several other small men came up behind the one that had screamed for help.

"You yelled sir?"

"Dust them and take them up top for Helga."

"Yes sir."

"Helga? Who's Helga?" Wilhelm asked, the small men drew closer and reached inside they're satchels and pulled out small fist fulls of pink dust. "Wait, what are you doing?! NO! LET GO OF ME!" Isolde struggled with the men as they pulled at her dress and her long hair that had come out of its braid. One of the small men came up and threw the pink dust into her face. Isolde, as well as Wilhelm, felt very tired and they're limbs grew weak. They both collapsed onto the dirt ground as the small men surrounded them and carried them up to the surface.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

_**Not all knights come in shining armor.**_

Her eyelid's felt heavy but she had to wake up. "Wilhelm?" She asked drowsily. She heard him grunt, she tried to move but her arms were tied behind her, Isolde's eyes shot open and looked around. She was tied up to some kind of pole and in front of her was Wilhelm who was in the same predicament only he was still asleep. _Thud Thud Thud. _ Isolde turned her head to where the sound was coming from. There, before her, stood a brilliant spring green Dragon accompanied by three small dragons. "Wilhelm! Wake up!"

'_Well, well, well. What do we have here? I see my little people are having a hard time finding suitable fresh meat.' _The dragon said in a sultry voice without once moving her lips.

"Halt!" A man's voice shouted out, Isolde's eyes searched for the owner of this voice. They came upon a knight, or so she thought, in shining armor.

'_Who are you to tell me what to do, puny human! My little people gave these two to me for my dinner, and you dare to interrupt me!' _

"No. I wish to release them, these two are hardly worth the effort of burning, oh mighty and powerful Helga." The knight knelt down, his hand firmly placed on his sword.

'_Flattery won't help you my dear. Tell me, sir knight, what is your name?'_

"Mine name is William Charming, Sir Charming, son of Gregory Charming of the royal bloodline." The knight, now known as William Charming, stood up and started to climb the rocky terrain up towards where Isolde and Wilhelm were tied. Isolde started struggling to get free of her ropes, but the most she had gotten was some pretty nasty rope burns. Wilhelm started to stir; he was fully awaked at the roar of the dragon that was in front of him. He saw Isolde struggling and looked around at his feet. He saw his notebook, his inkwell and pen. The tip of the pen gleamed in the sunlight. He slid down to the ground and grabbed his pen, he started cutting the rope.

'_A prince? And what might I ask, are you doing all the way out here?'_

"You, mighty Helga, are in breach of contract."

'_Do elaborate fair prince.'_ Helga stepped forward, standing in-between the posts and directly in front of William.

"Helga, you know better than I, what you're in breech about." William had a smug smile on while he was looking over Isolde. His eyes could have burnt a hole through her. She struggled to be released, her wrists were raw and every time she moved the ropes cut deeper into her arms.

'_Enlighten me.' _

"These human's, you know you're only allowed to have one per month, two is out of the question. I suggest you let the woman go, I'm sure my father will be pleased to have another in the household."

'_How dare you try and swindle me out of one of my pets, these were given to me by the mine dwarfs. They're mine!' _

"No, only one is yours. Give me one and I'll be sure to put in a good word to my father and my mother."

'_You can't do that if you're dead.' _Helga screeched, she raised her head up and opened her mouth. Prince William saw the light of the fire coming out of the large mouth that was presented before him. The fire heated his armor which burnt his skin, his screams were terrifying. Isolde was frozen in fear; she didn't even see Wilhelm rush over to her.

The ropes finally broke as Wilhelm rushed behind the large beast and went to help Isolde from her ropes. "Isolde, Isolde Look at me." Wilhelm had to grab Isolde's chin to make her look at him, her eyes were fixed on the pile of char that once use to be a person. Isolde felt her face be moved and suddenly there were two familiar eyes staring at her, accompanied with the familiar eyes was the comforting voice of Wilhelm. "Isolde, I'm going to help you get out of here. But when the rope is off, I want you to run. Don't look back just run, do you understand?" She just nodded as Wilhelm set to work on the ropes.

--

Meanwhile…

Jacob stumbled out of the small shack, he was sloppy drunk. He couldn't even walk a straight line. It was pitch black outside; on a rock by his leg he heard laughter. "Hello sir."

He looked down; he furrowed his brow at the sight of 2 tiny girl creatures. They had wings but they looked as if they're bodies were wrapped in leafs. "Oh…hello."

"You look lost," the blonde one said. "Maybe we can help."

"No, no, I'm not lost." Jacob's words slurred. "I'm just looking for my brother."

"We can help you!" The dark haired one said.

"I'm sure you can, but I must be off!"

"No!" Both said in unison. "You will stay here, with us! And you'll shut your mouth! It reeks of ale!" The dark haired one pointed her finger to Jacob's mouth and his lips melted together, leaving nothing of his mouth. The only thing he could do was scream muffled shouts. "Good, you will be a good pet for us. We love having pets." The blonde haired one stated.

Jacob let out a muffled "HELP!!"

While Wilhelm concentrated on cutting Isolde's ropes, Isolde kept watching the dragon. She watched as the dragon scooped the remains of that so-called Prince into her mouth.

Helga chewed happily on her the burnt body, it was well done; just the way she liked her meat. Helga turned around and saw that her new pets were trying to escape.

The rope fell off Isolde's wrists and she shot off running, even Wilhelm had a hard time keeping up. They heard a terrifying screech come from Helga. They both turned to see the dragon coming after them. "Run! GO! Don't turn back! Keep running!" Wilhelm shouted, mostly out of fear. They stumbled down the rocky terrain of the mountain. Helga had given up on the chase; she was defiantly getting to old for chasing young folk down mountains.

"Isolde! Isolde stop, wait!" Wilhelm had to grab Isolde to stop running; it was then that he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Did you….Did you see what that thing did? She…She burnt him alive. Alive!"

"Calm down, take a deep breath." He pulled her over to a rock to sit down.

"What was that thing?"

"I believe that was a dragon, only they're suppose to be myths."

Isolde calmed down, the fresh air helped a lot. "I think that a lot of things here aren't what they're like back home. Home! Oh my god! My father's going to really be furious if he finds out I'm missing."

"Calm down, why are you so afraid of him? He's nothing more than a big bully. I'm sure you could take him."

"No! He…He's my father. I could never do anything to cause harm to him."

"Alright, but still, he treats you unfairly and beats you for speaking your mind."

"That's because I spoke out of turn, it's not as bad with my mother, but Father still knows best."

"It's not right."

"I know that! I…I don't know why I'm afraid of him."

"Well, I'm sure Jacob has drank him under the table by now. Me on the other hand, I can't hold me ale." Isolde couldn't help but laugh. "See you're laughing, you must be feeling better."

"I don't know, about this place I mean. It's so strange."

"I know, so, come on. I think we should get to a town before it gets dark."

--

After what was about half an hour Isolde grew tired of the silence. "Wilhelm, what do you write in that notebook of yours? You seem very protective of it."

"Oh, This? They're nothing, just small stories, mostly fables."

"Are they important to you?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Then they are something, not nothing. Why don't you read some?" Isolde suggested.

"Ok then, um…how about this one?" Wilhelm told Isolde of 'The Little Cinder girl' who lived with her wicked family.

"Wait, this sounds familiar, is this one of your new stories?"

"It's…Relatively new."

"How relatively new?"

"Alright, fine. I just wrote parts of it right before we came here. That's what I was writing on the beach. It's about you actually." Wilhelm started picking up his pace, trying to run away from Isolde's reaction.

"Wait! Where are you going? Ah!" Isolde's foot fell into a small pot-hole that was in the road and her ankle twisted.

"Isolde! Are you alright? What happened?" Wilhelm ran over to her side concerned.

"I'll be fine."

"No, let me talk a look."

"I said I'm fine." Isolde said as she tried to stand up, unfortunately her ankle gave out underneath her and she fell again."

"No your not, you can't even stand on your foot let-alone walk god knows how may miles till we get to a town. Now let me see your foot." Wilhelm said in a strict tone.

Isolde pursed her lips as Wilhelm lifted her foot into his lap. His hands were cold as they touched his dirtied feet. She, too, noticed that there were blisters forming on her feet, there were also bruises forming around her ankle.

"Ok, I want you to push down on my hand; it may hurt but just bear with me for a minute." Isolde nodded. She did as Wilhelm said without showing the pain on her face.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"

"Bad."

"Ok well bad news is, is that we're lost."

"Ok then, what's the good news?" Isolde asked

Wilhelm smirked. "Your ankle's only twisted, it's not broken."

"And how do you know this?"

"Try growing up with my brother, you learn a lot about self-medication real quick." Isolde snickered at the comment. Wilhelm smiled. "I don't want you to walking on that foot, so you have two choices. To lean against me, or to be carried. The choice is yours."

"I'll lean against you. I don't think you'll be able to carry me." And so they walked but soon the energy drained from Isolde and Wilhelm ended up carrying her for only a little bit. As he carried her, Isolde slept with her head in the crook of his neck. For some reason she had a smile on her face as she slept.

"Hey, Isolde. Wake up." Isolde's eyes opened and she saw Wilhelm hovering her. She looked around again, making sure that they weren't in trouble. It was nighttime, star's twinkled in the sky above, she stood up as Wilhelm stood beside her. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm fine." She saw that they were at the entrance of a town, on the sign that was posted outside of the province stated that the town's name was Kissingtown. Isolde found her bearings and walked with the help of Wilhelm to the nearest building, luckily it was a bed and breakfast. There was only an older woman at the front desk. "Oh, hello dear. Come in! Come in! Your friend to! My, it's late for you two to be out so late. What can I do you for?"

"Um…We're lost. We don't know where we are."

"Well you're in Kissington!" The woman stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes but, where is Kissington? We're not from around here." Wilhelm said as he stood at the front of the desk, next to him was Isolde who was holding onto the edge of the desk for balance and support.

"Oh...Well Kissington is in the fourth Kingdom, Just south of the Little Lamb Village. Are you feeling well, dear? You don't look to good." The woman eyed Isolde over, she admired her red hair, and her dress but was somewhat disgusted by how much filth covered her, and how pale she was.

"I don't…fell to well." Isolde's eyes went into the back of her head as she collapsed to the hardwood floor.

"Oh dear!" The woman jumped up from behind her post. "Get her and follow me, I'll give you two a room, free of charge. She looks like death."

"Thank you, but please don't say that."

"I'm sorry. Here, you go. Why don't you set her down and come back down and I'll help you out whatever why I can."

"Once more thank you, what's you name?"

"Victoria, this is my bed and Breakfast."

"Thank you." Wilhelm bowed his head and set Isolde one of the two beds that were in the room. He took one of the pillows and put it underneath the swollen and bruised ankle. He took one last look at Isolde before he left to go downstairs to Victoria.

"How is she?" Victoria asked as she stood at the end of the stairs.

"She'll be fine. I'm Wilhelm by the way."

"That's an interesting name. How'd you end up here?"

"You wouldn't believe me, if I told you."

"Try me. You'll be surprised at what someone might believe."

"Ok…" Wilhelm told her about the fog and how the dragon and basically how they ended up there. "Well?" He asked as he looked at Victoria's face, which was in a mixture of shock and confusion.

"I say…that you need to talk to the Royals about this, I'm sure they might be able to help you. Luckily tomorrow they're coming into town. One of the son's is going to try to awaken Snow White."

"Who is she?"

"She use to be the daughter of a very rich man who lived in these parts. But her mother died and her father just recently, leaving her in the care of her step-mother, she's a witch I tell you, a terrible witch who'd like nothing better than to have one of her daughters at the side of one of the 6 princes. Well I guess its 5 princes now. Well anyway, her step-mother gave her a poison apple outside of the Miner's home and they found her in a deep slumber, she wouldn't wake up no matter what they did to try and wake her. They built her a crystal coffin to lie in until someone could wake her by kissing her. I feel sorry for the poor girl, having all those men kissing her without her knowing it, but I'm sure that one of the prices can wake her. Mark my words." Victoria stood up and dusted off her apron. "I bet that you're starving, aren't you? Would you like something to eat? I can whip up anything you like."

"No thank you, you've been too kind as it is to let us stay here for the night."

"Nonsense! How about some coffee then?"

"Oh yes, please." Wilhelm smiled in thanks as Victoria went back into a small room which he thought was the kitchen and brought out a cup of steaming black coffee.

"Thank you, again."

"Better than beanstalk juice that's for sure." She grumbled as she sat back down. "Now tell me about the girl, what's her name? How do you two know each other?"

Wilhelm took a sip of his coffee and set the cup back down on the table. "Her name is Isolde; we were supposed to be betrothed."

"Oh, that's nice. How long have you two known each other?"

"About 15 hours."

"Hours?! How can you two be betrothed if you've known each other for less than a day?!" Victoria shouted trying not to yell to loudly that her voice would wake up Isolde.

"Well, my brother, he arranged it. Met a man in a pub and they started playing cards, soon my brother had cleaned out this man and the man bet his daughter in the wager. My brother wouldn't take her so he set it up so I could marry her. Or that's what he's told me."

"That's….That's not Love! That's Horrible! Why would anyone ever do that?! Especially to that poor girl!"

"That's my brother." Wilhelm looked down at the cup of coffee, hoping to drown in his thoughts. Though his thoughts were soon interrupted by someone yelling followed by a series of thuds of someone falling down the staircase. Wilhelm turned his head and saw a child sprawled out on the floor.

"Mother," The child groaned as he tried to collect himself up off the floor.

"Oh, Jake, I told you to stay upstairs in bed." Victoria said as she rushed to the boy's side.

"I know, but it was too quiet. I couldn't sleep anyway." Jake said in a small voice. "Who's he?" Jake pointed at Wilhelm.

"Jake don't point, it's rude. This is Mr. Wilhelm Grimm. He's just staying the night. Now you, mister, you need to go upstairs and go to bed. You have classes tomorrow and you don't need to fall asleep again in them."

"I think I'll be heading up as well. Good Night Ms. Victoria, thank you again for the room." Wilhelm headed up for the room; once he was in his own bed he fell fast asleep.

--

They awoke to the sound of trumpets blaring a fanfare through out the town. "The prince's! They've arrived!" Victoria opened the door and said filled with joy. Wilhelm looked over to Isolde, Isolde mirrored him. She tried to stand on her ankle but it hurt too much to put any weight on it. Wilhelm got up and helped Isolde down the stairs and outside to see what the commotion was all about.

"Who are the Princes?" Isolde asked Wilhelm as she watched 5 carriages ride through the town and came to a stop as one reached the top of the hill that held a raven haired beauty in a crystal clear glass coffin.

"They're royalty here. Victoria, the tavern keeper, suggested that we ask for their help. Here," Wilhelm sat Isolde on one of the wooden benches outside of the tavern, "Stay here, I'm going to go talk to one of them." Isolde nodded and Wilhelm wondered off into the crowds of people that surrounded themselves around the carriages.

--

"Why are we even here? I mean, we all know that Henry is probably going to wake her up, so why do we even bother?" Charlie Charming asked his 3 older brothers, he was the youngest of the Charming princes, Henry was the 2nd eldest but now that they had received word that William had perished Henry was now the eldest and now heir to the throne.

"Because, if all goes well, Mother and Father want us to welcome this 'Snow White' into the family with open arms." Explained Winifred, the Charming's sister. She was the twin sibling of Alfred, who was born before Charles (Charlie)

"Well, I'm bored, I'm going outside for a bit of fun, care to join me Winny?" Charlie asked as he opened the carriage door.

"Sure, I suppose a walk couldn't hurt opposed to being cramped up in here with these 3." She joked. She took the hand Charlie had extended to help her out of the carriage.

"I'll go too!" Alfred said as he jumped out of the carriage. "Care to join us, brothers?"

"No, we're going to stay here in case this doesn't work." Said Lucius, their elder brother.

"Fine, suit yourselves." Said Winifred as she closed the carriage door.

--

Isolde waited for what seemed like five minutes until she grew rather bored. From where she was sitting she could see the royal prince perfectly, he had yet to wake this 'Snow White'. She lifted herself up and leaned against the building she saw more of what seemed like the royal party. Her energy was drained, she felt something hard hit the side of her head and everything went black.

--

Winifred was the first to see the weakened girl. "Alfred, look." She point to a girl in an strange looking green dress that looked oddly thick for the season.

"Who is she? She doesn't look like she's from here." Charlie said as he too looked at the girl. They noticed that she was leaning against the building. But then she paused, she soon fell to the ground hitting her head on the hard stone road.

"Oh my god!" Winifred gasped, her hand brought itself to her mouth as she instinctively ran over to the girl's side. "Somebody help!" She brought the girl's head to her lap.

"What do you need us to do?" Asked Alfred.

"Help me get her to the carriage! We need to get her someplace safe, and quick!" Winifred moved as Charlie and Alfred carried the Red haired maiden to one of their many carriages. Winifred, Alfred, and Charlie squeezed into the same carriage.

"Where should we take her?" Charlie asked, he was afraid someone would come along and accuse them of kidnapping.

"We'll take her to the castle on the southern side of our kingdoms until she gets better, We shall tell no one of this. Agree'd?" She looked at her twin and her younger sibling as if willing them to agree with her.

Both Alfred and Charlie said at the same time "Agree'd."

"Good." She turned to the small window that was behind her head. "Driver?"

A man looked behind him at the royals in his carriage. "Yes?"

"Take us to our castle on the southern part of our kingdom. Immediately!"

"Yes ma'am. He-yah!" He cracked his small whip at the four horses at the reins and they sped off.

--

Wilhelm was extremely nervous when he approached the royal prince, he had never been one to ask much. "Excuse me, sirr!" Wilhelm had accidently tripped over his untied shoelace and knocked into the Prince, as Wilhelm crashed into Henry his lips pressed against Snow's. Snow's Eye's opened and saw a Man who was fuming over a rather funny looking fellow who was sprawled on the ground after his fall. "What happened?" She asked innocently enough. Henry, being quick on his toes, lied. "I have awoken you, my love. I am here to claim you as my wife and Queen of my part of the Kingdom. Together we shall rule forever."

"Well, that's nice and everything but, who is he?" Snow pointed to Wilhelm.

"He, he is to come with us to our castle so I may find that out myself." Henry said with a growl in his throat. "Come, my love." Henry said in a much softer tone as he extended his hand to help Snow out of her crystal coffin.

He led Snow to one of the awaiting carriages, as soon as she was situated in the carriage he said he would only be a moment. Henry stomped back up the small hill to deal with the man who dared to kiss _his_ soon-to-be wife. "You!" Henry barked as Wilhelm dusted off his clothes.

"I-I am sorry, sir. I didn't mean any harm. I-I just…I came to ask for your help!"

"You, will receive no such thing! You will come back with me to my castle and shall be put in the jail's there! Guards! Arrest this man!" Henry shouted.

A man in full armor came up to the livid prince. "On what charges, sir?"

"Just do as I say, if not then you shall join him in his jail cell." Henry barked.

"Yes, sir." The Guard quickly gathered Wilhelm.

"Wait, no! You don't understand! I'm not even suppose to be here! Isolde! Help!"

--

Isolde felt something soft against her face, but she didn't understand why. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a woman sitting beside her on a rather extravagant bed. "Oh good, you awake."

"Who are you? Where am I? wait, who am I?"


	3. Chapter 3

part 3

_**Fresh Starts are sometimes Spoiled**_

"Who are you? Where am I? Who am I?" All Traces of her accent were gone. She asked as she sat up in the bed. She stared at the blond beauty,

"What do you mean who are you, don't you know?"

She shook her head. "I don't remember."

The blond sighed and stood up. "Well then, we'll just have to help you remember. I'm Winifred Charming of the Royal Charming family. Right now we are in the 1st of our nine kingdoms. Do you remember which you are from?"

The girl shook her head no. "Wait. Water. I remember shores and lots of water."

"The 5th, that's good. What about a name?"

The girl shook her head no again. "I'm sorry. I just can't remember."

"It's alright; don't beat yourself up about it. Would you like to go for a walk? Maybe talk a bit?" The girl nodded and got out of bed. When she stepped on her right foot she winced. "Is something wrong?"

"My foot hurts, a lot."

"Here, sit on the bed and let Porter look at your ankle." Winifred motioned for a short, chunky man with tiny eyeglasses to come in. "Porter, I need you to check out her ankle. She says that it hurts a lot."

"Yes, Madam." Porter came over to the girl, he lifted up the hem of her dress and the girl freaked out.

"Let go of me!" She screamed as she hit Porter's hand. She moved to the other side of the bed and pressed her knees to her chest.

"It's okay. Porter was only doing his job; he has to lift up your dress only a little so he may look at your ankle. You do want the pain to go away, don't you?" The girl nodded. "Then come over here and let him see your foot. He won't try anything, I promise you." The girl nodded again and sat in her previous seat. Porter looked up as if silently asking permission to look and lifted the dress only slightly.

"Well, she's twisted it alright. We're going to have to wrap it up and she'll have to stay off of it for a few days, but you'll have to give her a bath first. Her feet ore covered in dirt, cuts, and bruises. Have you been walking around without shoes outside, miss?" Porter asked the girl.

"I don't know."

"That's another problem, she apparently lost her memory. She doesn't remember a thing about who she is?" Winifred said.

"Well the only thing to fix that would be Magick; I could bring up a witch or a sorcerer if you like."

"No!" Winifred barked, causing both Porter and the girl to jump. "No magick here. That stuff always backfires. You may leave us now Porter, thank you for your services here. I'll help you with a bath but I shall call you up later so you may wrap her ankle."

"Yes Madam." Porter rose to his feet and bowed, he then left the room.

"Come on, I'll draw you up a nice hot bubble bath. Now, I want you to lean up against me and stay off of the foot that hurts."

"Okay." They made it to the bathroom where Winifred drew up a warm, relaxing bath for the girl and added extra bubbles.

The girl propped her foot on the rim of the tub as she took her bath, she was very interested in the bubbles. "How do you make bubbles? They're so light."

"I'm glad you like them. My mother buys them from a special shop in the 6th Kingdom." Winifred said from her chair in the corner, turned away from the girl.

"Your mother? Where is she?"

"With my brothers. We are the only ones in this castle at the moment, but they'll be back in a few weeks." The girl furrowed her brow as if trying to remember something. Winifred noted the silence and looked behind her and saw the girl. "What is it?"

"My-My mother is dead but my father remarried a woman with 2 children, girls, step-sisters."

"You're remembering. That's wonderful! Do you remember anything else?"

"My Father died and I was at the mercy of my stepmother. She made me one of the servants of our home; her daughters treated me like the dirt beneath their shoes. They acted as if they were royalty all while I slept in the pig pen."

"Oh, God! That's awful!"

"Something happened, but I don't remember the rest."

"You've had it rough, haven't you? I'm going to make it better, I promise."

The girl smiled and started playing with the bubbles again. After 5 more minutes of that Winifred made the girl get out of the bath and put on one of her nightgowns so the girl could lie down and stay off her foot as instructed.

"Winifred, what's that over there?" The girl pointed to one of Winifred's particular favorite romance novel's on the window seal.

"It's a book. Do you know how to read?" She asked as she brought the book over to the girl so she could see it. The girl accidentally dropped the book. "I'll get it, don't worry."

When Winifred brought the book up she saw that the girl's brows were furrowed again. "What is it this time?"

"Cinder, cinder, cinderel-something. I think it's my name. It was given to me by my mother because I couldn't stay out of the cinders as a child. Cinder, cinder…."

"Cinderella?" Winifred guessed.

"That might be it, I'm not sure."

"Well, I like it. If you can remember it all we'll call you that, but for now why don't stick with Cinderella?" The girl nodded and started reading the book in front of her.

--

The Guards Threw Wilhelm head first into the cell. He got up and dusted himself off, he started looking around.

"Father! Father! Look! A new Human!" He heard a tiny voice cry.

"Well, you're right. He certainly is." A much deeper but equally high voice said.

"Who's there? Come out where I can see you!" Wilhelm looked around him and spun in circles.

"Oi! Big one! Up here!" The male voice shouted. Wilhelm looked up at one of the rafters and saw two mice; one a young reddish brown color, the other old and graying.

"Mice! Get away from me!" Wilhelm shrieked as he turned and ran into a post. He fell flat on his back knock out cold.

--

"Poor Human, afraid of mice. Such a shame." Said the girl mouse.

"Be careful Daughter, We don't know if he's a mouse killer. He's wirey, this one." The father mouse said. Wilhelm Groaned and opened his eyes, he saw the two mice his chest.

"Get Off!" He swiped the mice off with his arm.

"Hey, Bozo! Why don't I just kill you know for trying to hurt my daughter!" The father cried.

"And how would you do that? By nibbling on my finger?"

"Why don't you come over here and find out?"

"This is ridiculous! I'm talking to talking mice; I must have lost my mind. I've seen some crazy things but this, this is crazy." Wilhelm sat down on the bench that was on the wall behind him.

"Now, Now. You just need to calm down. We only talk because of a curse that was put on all of the Charming's Castles. It's quite a story actually but a long one." The father mouse said.

"We'll tell you if you settle down some, AND I'll tell you a secret."

Wilhelm nodded and took deep even breaths to calm himself down. "Well, you see, there was this witch who was against the marriage of the King and Queen; mostly because they were to be the first royalties in the Kingdoms,"

"That and He was supposed to marry her daughter before he met the queen." The Daughter interrupted her father.

"Yes, anyway, she cast a spell to put the castles to sleep, it only worked on one of the castles, but with the rest it went wrong and all the mice able to talk. It's been that way for about 20 or 30 generations of my family." The father finished.

"And now the secret! I overheard that the prince talking with the messenger earlier. The Court magistrate is stuck in an ice storm over in the 8th Kingdom. He won't be able to come to try you for a least a month! Isn't that wonderful? We'll be sure friends by then!"

"Oh yes, just excellent." Wilhelm said dryly.

--

Cinderella was certainly was a fast healer, after only two days her foot was well enough to walk on but she had to wear the wrap just incase.

"Now, I was wondering if you knew any etiquette." Winifred asked as they were walking in the garden inside the castle.

"I don't know." Cinderella said, she stopped at some Hydrangea's. "These are pretty." She smelt the sweet periwinkle globes of small flowers.

"Hydrangea's. They're not my personal favorite but they are alright. That color suit's you, we should have a dress made for you in that color for the ball."

"What's a ball?"

"It's a dance where people come to celebrate, eat and dance. My mother and Father always have one when they move from one castle to another. This, my dear friend, is when you will make your debut."

"Debut?" Cinderella continued her walk through the garden looking at the vines of ivy that were covering the windows.

"It's when you make your first appearance. It's a very big deal if you know the right people, but don't worry, I'll be there to make sure nothing goes wrong." Cinderella shrugged and finished her walk.

--

A few weeks passed by in no time; Winifred had been training Cinderella in everything from etiquette to ballroom dancing. The Waltz was Cinderella's particular favorite.

The day of the ball had arrived and Winifred was greeting her parents and family while Cinderella stayed in one of the many rooms filled with books, reading.

"Winifred! Darling, it's so good to see you. I was so worried when you left Kissingtown with your brothers without us, and when your brothers came back without you, I thought you might have fallen ill. Are you alright?" She felt Winifred's cheeks to feel for any trace of a fever.

"I'm Fine mother, really." Winfred's removed her mother's hands from her face. "I had forgotten that I had invited a friend of mine to visit the same day we left for Kissingtown and I didn't want to seem rude by leaving her at the gates so I came back here as soon as possible." Winifred lied through her teeth to her Mother and she believed every single word that came from Winifred's mouth.

"Oh, well, where is she now?"

"Inside, she's very shy I'm afraid."

"That's fine, as long as we get to meet her tonight at the ball. Now, let's all go inside and rest some, it's been a very tiring trip." The Queen and King went inside while Winifred joined her twin.

"Well played." Alfred said.

"Thank you." Winifred grinned as she led her twin into the Castle followed by Thomas, the middle child, Charlie, then there was Lucius who was carrying several wooden boxes filled with books from his travels with his family.

"I'm going to set these in my room and then I'll join you." He climbed the stairs to his room where he found a red-haired girl in a buttercup colored sundress sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by several small piles of books. "Excuse me, miss? But what are you doing in here?"

Cinderella jumped at the voice, she hadn't even noticed the man with black hair that was clean cut into a high and tight, carrying wooden crates standing in the doorway." I-I" She looked down and tried to remember why she was in the room.

"Winny was right, you are shy." The man said as he set the Crates on his bed.

Cinderella looked him square in the eye. "I came in her for the books."

"Yes, but the Library downstairs has more books than in here."

"Those books are nothing but books told from the Militaries' side of the story, all war tactic and no common sense. These….These are different."

"I know, I collected them."

Her head shot up and her eyes widened. "O-Oh. This is your room. I'm sorry, I'll put everything back where I found it." She got up and started hastily putting books back in their places. Once done she kept her head down and left the room silently.. She could hear him chuckling to himself once she was out of the room.

Lucius looked at the books the girl had placed back on the shelves, 'the troll war', 'Magickal Creatures from Kingdoms beyond.' and such were there along with books on Civil Politics, Fictions, and folktales from several of the small town's in the Kingdoms.


	4. Chapter 4

_Some happily ever afters aren't happy_

Wilhelm sat on the cold dirty floor, sharing his bread and orange pumpkin soup with the mice. He had grown an unwanted beard and his hair had grown longer than he would have preferred because he couldn't trim it. "Grimm, you have been a good friend to us and for that I shall tell you how to escape this wrenched prison. There is a lever somewhere in this cell, it opens a door. A friend on my Great-Great-Uncle's Ex-Wife's Nephew discovered it some how; I think this information might be of use to you, also, the Royals are leaving for the 1st kingdom castle soon. You must hurry if you wish to escape while everyone is distracted."

Wilhelm smiled. "Thank you. Thank you very much!" He started searching frantically for the lever, he started twisting and turning chains, any vain hope to escape his prison. He finally found the one that opened the door. Wilhelm was about to leave when an idea struck him. He grabbed his metal pen and carved into the rafter 'Wilhelm Grimm 1805' underneath that he wrote in German, so the guards wouldn't understand it whenever they threw their next prisoner in that cell, turn the lever if you wish to escape'.

"Good-bye My mouse friends, Good Luck." He said as he left.

"And Luck to you too!" The daughter cried.

Wilhelm ran through corridors, hallways, and an artillery room until he found his way to the front door, that was wide open as the servants finished loading the carriage for Henry and Snow. There was a secondary carriage that looked like an armed fortress, if only the locks on the door were bolted. Inside was a mirror with round orbs all around it. He heard footsteps approaching behind him and Wilhelm panicked. He opened the door and hid behind the Mirror.

The man's whose footsteps Wilhelm heard were one of the guards who had come to lock the doors of the carriage. The guard came to attention when he heard Henry's voice." Is the mirror secure?" Henry asked.

"Yes sir, I've just finished locking the carriage now." The guard said in a deep manly voice.

"Good, Good. Carry on." Henry walked away, so did the Guard.

Wilhelm let out a sigh of relief when there was a jolt from the carriage as it began to move. He looked out one of the windows and saw the castle slowly growing more and more distant.

--

The sun had set and several carriages had arrived, Winifred was helping Cinderella get ready for the ball. She was wearing a pale blue floor length ball gown with small poofy sleeves. Winifred was braiding Cinderella's long wavy red hair and setting it into a bun when there was a knock at the door. Winifred got up and answered it, it was Porter. "Yes?" she asked politely.

"I have the things you asked for, Madam." He extended out a thin rectangular box that had a smaller, bulkier box underneath it.

Winifred smiled and took the boxes. "Thank you, Porter. I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"Oh no, not at all, madam." Porter Bowed and left as Winifred closed the door and returned to Cinderella's side.

"What are in the boxes?"

"Nothing.": Winifred continued on with Cinderella's hair, pulling it tightly into a bun on the top of her head. "Finished."

"You're lying. There is something in those boxes. What?"

Winifred went and sat on the edge of the bed in the room and smoothed out the lap of her wine colored dress that sparkled with brown jewels and glass beads with her matching elbow length gloves. "They are for you, a little gift from me. Go ahead and open them."

Cinderella smiled and torn into the boxes, she started with the smallest first. Inside it were two matching white silk elbow length gloves. "Oh, they're perfect."

"Wait, there's more. Look inside the other box."

Cinderella lifted the lid to the secondary box and gasped. There were two clear glass slippers inside the box. "Oh my god! They're beautiful. I-I can't accept these, they're too much. You've done enough already."

Winifred stood up, "Nonsense, you will accept them, they're for you. You are one of my most honest friends who doesn't care about whether or not I'm royalty or that I'm rich. I want you to have these."

Cinderella started to tear up, "Thank you." She said as she hugged her friend.

"Don't cry now, you'll ruin your makeup." Winifred laughed, Cinderella laughed with her. "Now, hurry up. Everyone is dying to meet you. I'll see you downstairs." Winifred left the room and headed downstairs to greet all of the people she knew.

She met Charlie on the way down. "Hey, I was about to get you. Where's the girl?"

"She's not just some girl, she's my friend, and she'll be downstairs in a minute."

"Ok." The Musicians started to play a happy upbeat song. "Care to dance?" Charlie asked his sister.

"I'd love to." She laughed as she and her brother hopped along the ballroom floor.

In the room, Cinderella looked over herself once more in the mirror then went downstairs. She arrived at the top of the staircase and everyone stopped to look at her, even the dancers.

Alfred came up to his sister as Cinderella descended the staircase, "Well done, sister. Very well done."

"Wait, that's the girl we helped into the carriage? She doesn't even look the same." Charlie commented. Winifred just smiled.

Cinderella nearly made it to the last step without tripping but the hem of her dress got caught under her heel. She would've fallen if it weren't for Lucius stepping in and catching her by her waist. "Alright there miss?"

Cinderella smiled politely and nodded. "Yes, thank you." She found her balance and set off to find Winifred, Lucius was right beside her.

"I must say that you look stunning this evening. Might I ask your name?"

"Cinderella and yours?"

"Hello Lucius, I didn't expect to find you here. You're usually out and about hiding in that room of yours with your book in a nose." A trashy blond said as she stood uncomfortably close to Lucius.

"Nose in a book." Cinderella corrected

"Oh, is that right? And who might you be?"

"Bo, this is Cinderella. Cinderella this is," He was interrupted by Bo.

"Bo Peep, nice to meet you." She stepped away from Lucius and curtsied her little shepardess outfit that was covered in lace and frilly things.

"Ladies and Gentlemen; the guest's of honor for this evening's festivities have arrived, Prince Henry and his bride-to-be Miss Snow White." The announcer called from the main doors that led outside.

Everybody started pushing and shoving their way around Cinderella and one of her feet fell out of its slipper. Somehow Cinderella was separated from Lucius, and found herself in front of Winifred and two men, one who looked addle like Winifred. "There you are, we've been searching for you since you came down." Winifred said.

"Funny, I've been doing the same thing."

Charlie kept smiling nudging his sister in her arm with his arm. "Oh, these are my brothers. I had six brothers but sadly one of them was eaten by a dragon recently. This is Alfred, my twin, and this blubbering idiot over here is my youngest brother Charlie."

"Charles, and it's a pleasure to meet you miss." Charlie said smoothly as he bent down and kissed Cinderella's right hand.

"Nice to meet you two."

When Charlie let go of Cinderella's hand Winifred elbowed him in the ribs as hard as she could. "What was that for?!"

"Stop it." She demanded.

"Stop what?" He mused.

"You know what, just stop it. Come one, I want you to meet the rest of my family." Winifred took Cinderella by the arm and led her outside.

--

Wilhelm had fallen asleep behind the mirror but was rudely awaken by a sudden stop. He looked outside and saw that he was at another castle entirely different from the 4th kingdom castle. This one was on flat land that made the castle seem so much larger. The guard came around and Wilhelm pushed the guard to the guard down to the ground with the door after the guard had unlocked it. "Look out, the prisoner!" Someone yelled causing all of the party guests to run in panic back into the castle.

Wilhelm ran from the guards that were chasing him when he saw a face that he never expected to see ever again, especially not here and in such fine clothing, Isolde. "Isolde!" he ran toward her. "Isolde, please, you've got to help me, they're going to kill me!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her in front of to hide from the guards, using her as a human shield.

"You, prisoner. Let go of the woman and come with us peacefully and there will be no need for any of this." The guard said as he neared Wilhelm with one hand up and the other on the hilt of his sheathed sword.

"No, no, it's okay. I know him."

"You do?" The guards, Winifred, Alfred, and Charlie said at the same time.

"Yes, I do. Now please let go of my arm, it's starting to hurt."

"Oh, sorry." Wilhelm let go of her arm but continued to hide behind her.

"Excuse me, Miss? You know this man, Correct?" Henry asked as he neared the small party of people.

"Yes." Cinderella/ Isolde said valiantly.

"Good. Guards I want you to take these people down to the cellar and keep them there until we can figure out what to do with them. Now!" Henry barked.

"You men will stay right there if you have any value of your lives. Henry, what is the matter with you? This is a peaceful gathering, one that should a happy one too. Why do you want to lock these two up?" Winifred asked.

"He," Henry shot a finger out pointing toward Wilhelm. "He tried to kiss Snow after I claimed her as my betrothed."

"You're lying." Cinderella/ Isolde said.

"I do not lie, Madam. It is you who is the liar amongst us, buddy-ing up to my family, claiming false friendships with them, it's disgusting."

"I, _sir_, do not lie to my friend. I have been nothing but honest since I've been here."

"It's true." Winifred said.

"Excuse me but what is going on out here?" The King demanded as he came outside with his wife trailing behind. "Henry, what proves to be the problem?"

"Nothing, father. Just a slight disagreement , that's all."

"Father, he wants to stick Cinderella and this man in the cellar for no reason what so ever." Charlie said.

"That's not true, I do have an excellent reason for this man. He escaped from one of my prison cells in my castle somehow and stowed away in the carriage with the Traveling Mirror."

"The mirror? You brought the mirror? The one your brother was suppose to bring me?" The King asked excitedly.

"Yes Father." Henry pointed to the open Armored Carriage, inside was the mirror.

"Bring it in, we'll deal with those two later but right now I must see this Mirror. You men, bring it inside. The rest of you lot, come with me."

--

The Guards brought the mirror to the Kings study on the main floor. "Set it down carefully now. We don't need 7 years of bad luck on our hands." The King instructed the guards. They all stepped back and looked at it.

"It looks like a regular mirror to me." Charlie commented from the back of the room.

"Charles, why don't you go annoy some innocent girl, why don't you?" Alfred asked severally annoyed.

Charlie scoffed. "Fine!" He shouted as he left.

"I don't understand. Henry, did they say how to turn it on?" The king asked.

"No father." Henry said reluctantly.

"I think I might know." Cinderella/ Isolde said, stepping toward the Mirror. She ran her gloved hand along its frame. "There must be some sort of switch of some kind to turn it on. AHA!" A large round orb slipped out of its place and turned upside down as the Mirror itself fogged up.

"What is that?" The king asked.

"It's fog." Wilhelm stated plainly. "The same, I'm guessing, that brought us here. The same that I had come to ask Prince Henry's help about before he arrested me."

"No, no, that's impossible." Henry said. "This mirror was specifically engineered to take people to the mythical 10th kingdom."

"Only to be talked about in Myth." The king said as he looked back and forth between Wilhelm and the Mirror.

"Well it's real, I should know, I'm from there and I really need to get back, so does Isolde."

"Will you please quit calling me that? My name is not Isolde, nor do I know anyone by such a name!" Cinderella snapped.

"But you are Isolde, you have to be. You look exactly like her, the voice may be different but,"

"But I'm not her. I'm sorry."

"You said you knew me." He said in disbelief.

"I know, I lied, and I'm sorry about that as well. I just didn't want to see you be arrested. I've never seen you a day in my life. But, please, majesty, let him return home. Maybe this Isolde will find hers somehow." Cinderella asked the King.

:"It's probably too dangerous, no one has traveled this far by mirror before."

"Please, sir, I need to get home. I can't stand this place a minute longer. No offence towards you, sir."

"None taken, I know how this place can be a little loopy. If you want to leave, then I wish you luck." The king stuck out his hand and shook Wilhelm's hand with a tight grip."

"Thank you." Wilhelm turned and gave Cinderella a sad look before slipping into the portal.

--

He landed flat on his back onto the shore as the fog bank crept back into the lake. 'Maybe it was a dream.' He thought, but that thought was thrown out of his head once he saw Jake screaming and running for his life away from three bright lights that were chasing him through the woods, naked.

Wilhelm got up and looked at a place of displaced fog. "Goodbye Isolde." He whispered before running after Jake.

--

On the other side of the portal, Cinderella flipped the orb back into its place. "Well then, I think we better go back out into the ball or people with be getting suspicious at why the King and half of the royals have left the ball." Said Alfred as he headed toward the door.

Several agrees came from everyone and they followed him out the door. "I agree." Cinderella said softly as she looked down and noticed she was missing one of her glass slippers. Winifred came up and set a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright? You know, we don't have to go back out there if you want."

"No it's fine. I need some cheering up anyway. A departure can be very depressing."

They walked out and Cinderella bumped right into Lucius's chest. "Oh, ow, I'm sorry" She quickly said.

Lucius laughed. "You really need to watch where you're going."

"Oh, hi!" Cinderella smiled, instantly cheered up.

:"I see you two have met." Winifred looked at the two smiling faces that paid her no attention what so ever.

"Here, I believe this maybe yours. I found it out front when everyone was running inside." Lucius pulled out Cinderella's missing slipper."

"Yes, it is. Thank you." She smiled and went over to a spare chair to sit down, Lucius knelt down and slid the slipper on and it was a perfect fit. In the background the clock stroke midnight and the Waltz started playing.

"Finally, a song I know. Care to dance?" Lucius stood up and extended his hand. Cinderella looked at it and them him.

"I would love to." She took his hand and they took to the floor, dancing flawlessly it the Waltz.

--

"Is that all Aunt Cindy?" Asked the little eight years old who was sitting in her mother's lap.

"Casey, I'm sure your Aunt Cinderella is very tired. She's over 200 years old and I hear tell stories to little pups can be very exhausting."

"Oh, it's alright Virginia, I'm perfectly fine. It's not all the time that I a real story to my Great-Grand niece." Cinderella patted Casey's cheek.

"Ok, if you're up to it." Virginia held her hands up in surrender.

"I am. Now, let's see here. After the ball, Snow White ended up Marrying Henry and their Grandson is your uncle and my nephew." She told Casey. "I married Lucius,"

"What happened to him?" Casey interrupted Cinderella's train of thought with her question.

Cinderella smiled kindly. "He's dead now sweetheart, but he gave me some of the happiest years of my life. Where was I, Oh yes….Thomas, he found a girl with so long her had to climb it to just rescue her from her tower."

"Repunzel!" Casey cheered. Both Cinderella and Virginia laughed at the sight.

"Alfred married Red Riding hood. Winny, she went off and married that Old King Cole, I told her that her was too old, too lazy, and way too fat but does she listen to me? No."

Virginia laughed. "And what about Charlie? What ever happened to him?" She asked while running her fingers through her daughter's long brown hair.

"Oh, yes. Charlie, turns out he did find another girl to annoy. She and her brother were lost in the woods, can you believe that? They used breadcrumbs to leave a trail behind, and now her granddaughter is Gretel the Great of the southern part of the 2nd Kingdom!"

Casey yawned and looked at her mother. "I'm tired."

"Oh no you're not. You're Super-duper hyper and you just don't know how to use all that pent up energy." Virginia said as she began to tickle Casey.

"Haha! Stop it mom that tickles!"

"Of course, that's the point! Here," Virginia stopped and took Casey off of her lap. "Why don't you go find your father, go tell him dinner will be in fifteen minutes, ok?" Casey nodded and begun to run off. "Hey! Give your Aunt Cinderella a goodbye kiss."

Casey turned around and gave her great grand aunt a kiss on the cheek.. "Bye Aunt Cindy." Casey Grumbled as she began to run off again.

"Bye sweetie."

"Hey, what am I? Chopped Liver?" Virginia asked as Casey walked right by her.

"Sorry mommy." Casey kissed her mother's cheek before finally being able to go hunt down her father, literally.

"What about Isolde? Did she ever find her home?" Virginia asked as she rested her chin on her fist.

Cinderella just smiled.

'_**And they all lived happily ever after.'**_

_**Wilhelm Grimm 1786-1859**_


End file.
